Things have been a little bit batty at the library lately. Our "Dream Big—READ!" theme has been exploring things related to the night, and that includes BATS! (That's the flying kind—not the baseball kind.) There have been bat puppets, bat stickers, bat stories, and even a couple of real bats!

On June 11 and 18 preschoolers participated in our "Go Batty at the Library!" program. Children made their own special bat puppets and then hung around (no pun intended) with their big persons and read together books about bats.

On June 13 a capacity crowd of 275 children and parents enjoyed the StoneLion Puppet Theatre's production of Stellaluna at the library's first big program of the summer at the Bell Cultural Events Center on the MNU Campus. This well-loved story of a bat trying to fit in with a family of birds kept everyone entertained with music and laughter.

On June 19 children at the Indian Creek Branch got up close and personal with a couple of Egyptian fruit bats from the Kansas City Zoo. They also got to see mossy frogs, a blonde desert tarantula, and a rainbow boa constrictor.

As you can see, it's been a fun summer so far, and there's still more to come. If you don't have a flyer of our summer programs for kids, pick one up the next time you are in the library, or click here to learn more about our summer activities. Remember, some programs require registration and may fill up quickly. Don't miss out on the fun!

In this week's "Be a 'Block' Head" programs kids learned about the art of quilting. Miss Sharon talked a little bit about quiltmaking and showed some special quilts from her own family, including one made by her father when he was in 2nd grade. The kids were impressed. Mr. Gregg shared a book that told about how quilts were used as a secret way of communicating between slaves who were preparing to escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Then the kids got to create their own paper quilt blocks. These blocks will be assembled into special quilts which will be on display at both libraries. Keep your eyes open for this!

What a great turnout we had for our Summer Reading Kick-Off! More than 1200 people came to Frontier Park to find out about our summer reading program and participate in a variety of fun activities. Almost 800 kids picked up a summer reading folder to track their summer reading. Information was also distributed about our Tween & Teen summer reading program and Adult summer reading program. If you didn't make it to the Kick-Off, you can still pick up your reading folder anytime this summer at either Olathe Library. Click on the photos below to get a closer look at the fun.

The Olathe Noon Optimist Club provided free bottles of water which were most appreciated on this hot summer day. Thanks also to our many volunteers who helped make the day a great success. Thanks to everyone who came to the Kick-Off. What a great way to start off our summer! We hope to see you all at the library this summer.

This summer the Olathe libraries are again doing book discussion groups for children with their parents. There is one group for kids going into 3rd & 4th grade plus a parent at the Indian Creek Branch and another group for kids going into 5th grade plus a parent at the Main Library. The goal of the program is to have children and parents read and discuss books together. The library will provide one copy of the discussion book for each child that registers. Parents, you'll have to share your child's copy. Both child and parent should read the book and come prepared to discuss it. Registration is required. You may register online through our website or call (913) 971-6874 or register at either library. Books for the 3rd & 4th grade book discussion must be picked up at the Indian Creek Branch, and books for the 5th grade discussion must be picked up at the Main Library.

Here is the June schedule:

3rd & 4th Grade Child/Parent Book Discussion Wednesday, June 13 - 7:00 p.m. at the Indian Creek Branch
Book - The Dream Stealer by Sid Fleischman
Registration now in progress

5th Grade Child/Parent Book Discussion
Tuesday, June 12 - 7:00 p.m. at the Main Library
Book - Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm (This title is on next year's William Allen White award nominee list.)
Registration now in progress

5th Grade Child/Parent Book Discussion
Tuesday, July 10 - 7:00 p.m. at the Main Library
Book - Gossamer by Lois Lowry
Registration begins Tuesday, June 12

There are still spaces available in the June sessions. Register now so you have time to read the book! Feel free to bring a pillow and relax. A snack will be served. Book discussions will last about an hour. It's always fun to read a good book and then hear what others think about it.

School is out! Yippee! But now what are you going to do with all your free time? We hope you'll spend part of your summer at the library. We have lots of fun programs planned, and we encourage every child going into 1st - 5th grade to get a summer reading folder to keep track of all the reading you do this summer.

All the fun begins on Tuesday, May 29. Our Summer Reading Kick-Off will be held on May 29 from 10 a.m. - 12 noon at Frontier Park, located at Black Bob Rd. & Inidan Creek Pkwy. You may pick up your reading folder, play some games, get a temporary tattoo, watch the worm races, and more fun. We will also be selling Dream Big—READ! t-shirts for $5 each. Be sure to bring along some money if you're interested in purchasing one. In case of rain, the Kick-Off will be cancelled.

You may also pick up a reading folder at either Olathe library starting Tuesday or anytime during the summer. If you bring your folder back between July 30 - August 15 and show us all the reading you did over the summer, you'll get to choose a free paperback book. You get to have fun reading some good books all summer, and then you get a freebie to keep! It's a win-win situation.

To learn more about all the activities going on for kids this summer, pick up a blue program flyer at either Olathe library or click here to explore our summer web pages. We're looking forward to a great summer and hope to see you at the library!

On Tuesday a group of homeschoolers participated in a fun program at the Indian Creek Branch called "The Science of Paper Airplanes." The kids learned about the different forces that work together to make a great paper airplane design. After making their own paper airplanes, everyone had a chance to take them outside and test them out. It was a beautiful day for flying paper airplanes! Click the photos below for a closer look.

This was our final homeschool program for the spring. Watch for more homsechool programs in the fall. And of course, we hope all children will participate in our Summer Reading Program and all the activities that will be happening at the library this summer.

The library's second annual LEGO Design Contest was held on April 14 at the Indian Creek Branch. Twenty-six kids in grades
K - 5th brought their orignal LEGO creations to be displayed and judged. There were some very creative designs including castles, zombies, hedgehogs, planes, houses, bats, vampires, abstract objects, and more. It was great fun to see what these skillful and imaginative young LEGO builders came up with.

Our judge had a tough job awarding 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in two age groups: K - 2nd grade and 3rd - 5th grade. Then the public got to cast their votes for the Best in Show award. There was some tough competition. Here are the winning entries.

1st place in K - 2nd

Ashley S. with Penguin Building a Snowman

2nd place in K - 2nd

Panchal P. with Sweet House & Hovercraft

3rd place in K -2nd

Carter G. with The Play

1st place in 3rd - 5th & Best of Show

Ian G. with Wall-E

2nd place in 3rd - 5th

Chinmay P. with LEGO Castle

3rd place in 3rd - 5th

Preston R. with Off Road Safari Vehicle

There were also three Honorable Mentions awarded.

Elisabeth S. with Rainbow with Experiments

Savindu B. with Advanced Military Base

Nathan T. with Zombie Attack

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners are currently on display at the Main Library. If you missed the contest on Saturday, it's not too late to check out these cool LEGO creations. Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. It was great fun!

At the February meeting of LEGO Club at the Indian Creek Branch, a Kansas City Star photographer came to take pictures of the event for the Community Faces section of their website. The photos were just posted online today. Here is the link where you can view the pictures of the program: http://mingle.kansascity.com/photos/2012/lego-club-meeting-2-28-12/

As you can see, there is always a lot of creative fun going on at these monthly LEGO Club meetings. The next monthly meeting will be on Tuesday, March 27 at 4:30 p.m. at the Indian Creek Branch. Registration is required and begins on Monday, March 19. This program always fills up quickly, sometimes within an hour. If you're interested, call as early as possible. Registration begins when the library opens at 10 a.m.

The library will also be hosting a LEGO Design Contest on Saturday, April 14 at the Indian Creek Branch. This is a contest where kids in grades K - 5th build an original design at home and then bring it to the library to be judged against other kids' creations. More detailed rules and information about the contest will be available at the library starting on Monday, March 19. This program also requires registration which begins on Monday, March 26.

You can always find more information about upcoming LEGO programs and other kids' programs at the library on the Programs page of our website. You may also pick up a blue program flyer at the library listing all upcoming programs through the end of May.

For kids in the Olathe District Schools, there will be no school this Thursday and Friday. If you're looking for something fun to do on your days off, we invite you to come make a valentine at the Valentine Factory! All children in 5th grade and younger can participate. Kindergartners and younger must be accompanied by an adult. There is no regisration. Come and go as you please. All supplies will be provided. Here is the schedule:

Thursday, February 9
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Indian Creek Branch

Friday, February 10
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Main Library

And while you're at the library be sure to check out a good book to read, a good movie to watch, or a fun video game to play...or all of the above! We've got it all at the library.